The victim, believed to be about 35, was found strangled in a room at the Interlude Motel at 1215 S. Federal Highway on May 12, 1985. Police were never able to identify him.

At the murder scene, police found the fingerprints of Ruggerillo and co- defendant Wayne Louis Moore, also of the Jacksonville area. Ruggerillo was captured in Jacksonville, but Moore still has not been found, police said.

Ruggerillo told the jury that he, Moore and the victim shared a room at the motel, but that it was Moore who killed the man.